Buzz Links: What ‘The Love Guru’ Reviews Are Saying

There’s no love lost between critics and the comedy “The Love Guru.” The Paramount Pictures release stars comedian Mike Myers as a Deepak Chopra wannabe named the Guru Pitka who is hired by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Jessica Alba) to reunite her top player (Romany Malco) and his estranged wife. Justin Timberlake co-stars as a libidinous French-Canadian goalie.

Myers’ first live-action film since 2003′s “Cat In the Hat,” “Guru” has been largely panned by both the mainstream media and fanboy websites, which often pen gentler reviews.
As of early Friday morning, the movie has accumulated a 90 percent “rotten” rating at the movie review aggregator site RottenTomatoes.com and sparked several opinion pieces questioning the health of Myers’ career.

Here’s a sampling of the reviews:

Joe Morgenstern in the WSJ: “The road taken by ‘The Love Guru’ could hardly be lower, and leads nowhere.” [WSJ]

Dana Stevens in Slate: “…the most joy-draining 88 minutes I’ve ever spent outside a hospital waiting room… it’s about as much fun as a tour of someone’s large intestine.” [Slate]

A.O. Scott in The New York Times: “To say that the movie is not funny is merely to affirm the obvious. The word ‘unfunny’… does not quite capture the strenuous unpleasantness of his performance. No, ‘The Love Guru’ is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again.” [The New York Times]

Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News: “With this film, Myers puts a shotgun in the mouth of comedy and kills it. This isn’t merely a bad film, but a painful experience that you keep telling yourself to leave… one of the most inept pathetic terrifyingly awful experiences I’ve ever suffered through.” [Ain't It Cool News]

Washington Post: “…a wheezy, tired attempt to milk more laughs out of the ’60s, by doing exactly what ‘Austin Powers’ did: collect cultural references from the period, run them through a wringer of self-satisfaction and — presto, change-o — cultural satire. Although satire seems a strong word for something so insignificant.” [Washington Post]

Richard Corliss in Time: “As much as I’d like to, I cahn’t join the chorus of critical contumely. The Love Guru is a shambling, hit-or-miss thing… a fine mess.” [Time]

Comments (5 of 46)

pure genuis!! not only funny, but spiritual guidence, potty words, and hot babes. Their is a god ! and man is he funny.

10:56 am October 26, 2008

EZ wrote :

Not Mike Myers's best work, but definately funny. And if this movie offends u, then u probably have a large object stuck in your rectum.

5:53 am October 19, 2008

HinduDude wrote :

I am amazed by the bad reviews and hurt sentiments..i thought this movie was fantastic and funny..waz laughing my fanny off the whole time..wow, people just can't seem to enjoy themselves these days.

4:16 pm July 28, 2008

Jack wrote :

If the ancient Gods of Hindus come now, at this stage, infront of the modern India, they surely will be kicked out of the country. Insane monkey, elephant, snake worshipers were their forefathers. Wake up Hindus !